美國有錢人被控謀殺還是可以繳幾千萬元後保釋出獄，但將近四成的牢獄犯卻因為付不出保釋金才認罪坐牢，其中許多不是謀殺犯也不是極度危險罪犯。然後美國人 發明出保釋金高利貸，專門借貸給付不出錢的輕度罪犯（有的根本沒犯罪，最後被迫認罪）。然後借了保釋金高利貸後你只是到審判之前可以自由，之後還是可能被 定罪，同時欠了一屁股債。然後高利貸公司還可以合法入侵你家騷擾你。結果：窮人小罪犯就被這種超爛制度一輩子吃垮。
不幸中的大幸是，五年前整個美國司法系統(從挑少數族裔抓人到強逼人認罪到窮人付不出保釋金)的問題都還沒有像今日如此主流化。七零年代就有學者指出這些 問題，但長期一來這是只有學者會關注的議題。多虧了近年Ferguson一系列大量人民上街頭奮鬥引來更多關注。這些問題早該被解決了。
Just 5 years ago I was so worried that nobody except intellectuals, sociologists and anthropologists really talks about the “prison is the new slavery” in the US justice system. I am glad that, after infinite sorrow over recent years, at least people beyond academics are actually talking about these things in a large scale. Ferguson is not about a specific case of Michael Brown. It’s a long-awaited calling against the new slavery– except it’s not new but decades-long. This is not specifically about Ferguson. But perhaps Ferguson helped mobilize people to start to take these things seriously and actually talk about them.